<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<recommendedContent xmlns="http://api.mspoke.com">
    <recommendedItem id="20090101_19_454"
                     title="Routine Irradiation Could Make the Food Supply Safer"
                     score="-0.005"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/tb/12869?impressionId=1265750155753"
                     
      MADISON, Wis., Feb. 12 -- Irradiation could improve the safety of the food supply and limit infectious disease outbreaks such as the ongoing rash of salmonella infections, a researcher said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;The CDC has estimated that irradiation of foods at high risk for contamination with pathogens -- such as poultry, hamburger, foods containing eggs and milk, and selected leafy and other vegetables -- could prevent up to one million cases of bacterial foodborne disease each year, according to Dennis Maki, M.D., of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health here.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Such a program could protect against safety breakdowns in the production process, and research has shown that it would not harm the nutritional value of foods or make them toxic, carcinogenic, or radioactive, he said in a perspective published online in the &lt;em&gt;New England Journal of Medicine&lt;/em&gt;.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;The practice has been endorsed by the World Health Organization, CDC, FDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, American Medical Association, and the European Commission&apos;s Scientific Committee on Food, he said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&quot;I believe it is time to launch a major effort to gain public acceptance of irradiation of high-risk foods,&quot; he said. &quot;It is time to stop reliving history.&quot;
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Dr. Maki questioned how foodborne illness could be so prevalent in a developed country like the U.S., each year affecting about 76 million Americans, causing 350,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, and adding $7 billion in healthcare costs.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;There have been 26 reported outbreaks of &lt;em&gt;Escherichia coli&lt;/em&gt; in green leafy vegetables since 1993, he said, including one in 2006 linked to spinach. (See: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/4134&quot; target=&quot;blank&quot;&gt;FDA and CDC Track Spinach-Linked E. coli 0157:H7 in 21 States&lt;/a&gt;)
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Each year 110,000 people are infected by the bacterium and 50 die, despite the efforts of the FDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and CDC to stem infections, he said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Additionally, salmonella outbreaks are not rare, he said, as illustrated by the 43-state outbreak last year stemming from tainted jalapeno and serrano peppers from Mexico and the ongoing outbreak connected to peanut products that has sickened 600 persons in 44 states and Canada since Sept. 1.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;The current epidemic has resulted in a criminal investigation of a single peanut processing company and congressional hearings on the outbreak and food safety. (See: &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/12863&quot; target=&quot;blank&quot;&gt;Congressional Panel Turns Harsh Spotlight on Peanut Processor&lt;/a&gt;)
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;A major reason that outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are not going away is that almost all the food Americans consume &quot;is grown or processed on a vast industrial scale or, increasingly, is imported,&quot; Dr. Maki said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&quot;With centralized production and transcontinental distribution of commercially produced foods, unusually heavy contamination of a basic foodstuff or a failure to remove contaminants in a single production step can result in the shipment of contaminated food to millions of consumers.&quot;
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;But production of food on such a large scale is unlikely to change, he said, because &quot;efficient, industrialized production of huge quantities of food is an inescapable necessity to avoid food shortages and global famine.&quot;
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Instead, he said, steps need to be taken to improve the safety of the current system.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Existing programs meant to ensure food safety -- such as the USDA&apos;s Pathogen Reduction, Hazard Analysis, and Critical Control Point program -- and those that provide disease surveillance, like the CDC&apos;s FoodNet and PulseNet. need to be improved, he said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;In addition, he said, government agencies must commit to monitoring the production and processing of food and assessing its safety.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&quot;Inspections of food producers and processors by state agencies, the FDA, and the USDA have been limited by insufficient personnel and inadequate budgetary support,&quot; he said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Other suggestions included:
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;ul&gt;
                &lt;li&gt;The development of rapid and more sensitive methods for detecting pathogens in food.
                &lt;li&gt;The placement of bar codes on all commercial food, allowing for tracing to a specific farm, processing plant, or distribution center.
                &lt;li&gt;The development of approaches to feeding poultry, swine, and cattle to reduce pathogen colonization, including a prohibition on putting growth-promoting antibiotics in feed.
                &lt;li&gt;The elimination of the unnecessary use of antimicrobials in humans and animals.
                &lt;li&gt;The improvement of hygienic food-preparation practices, which would include strengthening health agencies&apos; abilities to monitor food-handling practices and pursue suspected problems.
              &lt;/ul&gt;
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&lt;table cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; hspace=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;border-style:solid; border-width:1px; border-color:#8dabbc; font-family:arial; font-size:12px; background-color:#DBE9F2; padding:5px 5px 5px 5px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;Dr. Maki reported no conflicts of interest.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
         
    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20090101_19_1863"
                     title="Poultry, Fruit, Veggies Lead the Way in Foodborne Illness"
                     score="-0.005"
                     href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/tb/14655?impressionId=1265750155753"
                     
      LITTLE FALLS, N.J., June 11 -- Poultry, leafy vegetables, fruits, and nuts were the main drivers of foodborne disease in 2006, according to the CDC.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;That year, the most recent for which detailed information is available, there were 1,270 foodborne disease outbreaks accounting for 27,634 cases and 11 deaths, CDC researchers reported in the June 12 issue of &lt;em&gt;Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report&lt;/em&gt;.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;An outbreak can include as few as two cases.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Among outbreaks that were attributed to a single food, poultry was blamed for 21%, followed by leafy vegetables (17%) and fruits and nuts (16%).
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Among outbreaks with a single cause, norovirus accounted for 54% and &lt;em&gt;Salmonella&lt;/em&gt; accounted for 18%.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&quot;Public health professionals can use this information to target control strategies for specific pathogens in particular foods along the farm-to-table continuum and support good food-handling practices among restaurant workers and the public,&quot; the researchers said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Food safety has taken on renewed importance following multistate &lt;em&gt;Salmonella&lt;/em&gt; outbreaks over the past year involving tainted peppers and peanut butter, followed by a salmonella-related recall of millions of pounds of U.S. pistachio nuts. These were not reflected in the 2006 figures. (See &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/10344&quot; target=&quot;blank&quot;&gt;FDA Finds Salmonella Saintpaul in Water and Peppers at Mexican Farm&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/13269&quot; target=&quot;blank&quot;&gt;Cost of Salmonella Outbreak Likely to Top $1 Billion&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-Watch/Washington-Watch/13631&quot; target=&quot;blank&quot;&gt;Pistachio Recall Expands Dramatically&lt;/a&gt;)
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;The discoveries did spur congressional hearings into the safety of the U.S. food supply, along with multiple legislative proposals to strengthen preventive measures for foodborne disease.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&quot;Timely reporting of findings of investigations is an important step in efforts to better understand and define the epidemiology of foodborne disease in the U.S. and to identify gaps in the food-safety system,&quot; the &lt;em&gt;MMWR&lt;/em&gt; editors said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;The 2006 data came from the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, which collects reports from state and local health departments.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Of the 11 deaths reported, 10 were attributed to bacteria -- six resulted from &lt;em&gt;Escherichia coli&lt;/em&gt; O157:H7, two from &lt;em&gt;Listeria monocytogenes&lt;/em&gt;, and one each from &lt;em&gt;Salmonella&lt;/em&gt; Enteritidis and &lt;em&gt;Clostridium botulinum&lt;/em&gt;. The eleventh death was caused by a mushroom toxin.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Although the average number of cases of &lt;em&gt;E. coli&lt;/em&gt; O157:H7 and &lt;em&gt;Salmonella&lt;/em&gt; Enteritidis remained high in 2006, they declined from 1998-2000.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;The &lt;em&gt;MMWR&lt;/em&gt; editors noted that the 505 norovirus outbreaks reported in 2006 represented an actual increase over the previous five-year average -- and not an artifact of improvements in diagnosis.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&quot;The large and increasing number of outbreaks attributed to norovirus indicates a need for improved attention to preventing food contamination at the point of service, because such outbreaks are largely attributed to transmission by infected food handlers,&quot; they said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Adhering to recommended preventive measures such as hand washing could reduce the number of cases, they said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Among the relatively small number of dairy-related outbreaks -- just 3% of the total -- about seven in 10 were attributed to unpasteurized milk.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;&quot;Additional efforts are needed to educate consumers and dairy farmers about illnesses associated with this preventable risk,&quot; the editors said.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;They noted five limitations of the analysis, including the fact that only a small proportion of all foodborne illnesses in the U.S. are linked to outbreaks and that not all recognized outbreaks are reported to CDC.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Also, they said, information on many of the outbreaks is incomplete and only about half of reported outbreaks had a confirmed etiology.
              &lt;p&gt; 
              &lt;p&gt;Finally, they said, because of variations in reporting, comparisons of outbreaks in different years should be made with caution.
             
    </recommendedItem>
    <recommendedItem id="20090101_1_201"
                     title="Bad Health Habits that Spell Early Death Start Young"
                     score="-0.005"
                     href="